Gróska – A House of Ideas

Translation: Julie Summers

Innovation Week was held from September 30 to October 7 and involved all sorts of events, lectures, and exhibitions related to innovation – all online! The week began with a ceremony in Gróska, the new large, imposing building south of Askja, which now seems small in comparison.

Photos / Sædís Harpa Stefánsdóttir

According to the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic, the word gróska means “powerful growth,” and it’s a fitting name, as Gróska is the latest addition to the Vísindagarðar complex and is intended to be a hub for business growth and innovation. Vísindagarðar also includes the building that houses deCODE Genetics and Alvotech/Alvogen, as well as Mýrargarður, the newest student residence hall. Gróska is located at Bjargargata 1, a new road in Vatnsmýri. The road is named for Björg C. Þorláksson, the first Icelandic woman ever to complete a PhD.

No ordinary office building

Gróska occupies 17,500 square meters on four floors. Excavating the site took time, and construction began in early 2017. The building was supposed to be ready at the end of last year, but as often happens with such plans, there were delays. From the outside, the building appears complete, but construction is still underway inside.

Whether viewed from afar or up close, Gróska is an incredibly beautiful building. It’s made of concrete, with striking wooden siding that will take on a more natural hue as it weathers over time. The black lampposts lining the east and south sides of the building also caught my eye. The building is covered with large windows, a design reminiscent of the building on Hafnartorg that houses the offices of Fréttablaðið. But the people behind Gróska say it is not an office building, but rather “a greenhouse for ideas, where established companies blossom alongside the latest startups.”

Impressive both inside and out

When you approach the building from Bjargargata, your attention is immediately drawn to the building’s most identifiable feature: a fantastic, massive wall of live plants that even houses some spiders. The plant wall was erected at the beginning of the year and has been flourishing while COVID has been looming over us and while construction was completed both inside and outside. Someone comes to prune the wall regularly!

By the western entrance of the house is a sort of square, where the external wall stretches out its arms to welcome people to Gróska. The building is equipped for a restaurant and coffee shop, as well as retail and service spaces. World Class operates a gym in one corner of the first floor, and there’s a large conference hall in the center of the building.

Elísabet Sveinsdóttir works for Vísindagarðar. She told me that Gróska is supposed to be recognizable from any angle, whether in person or in photos. Gróska’s logo was inspired by the staircase that meanders upward like a folding ruler in the center of the building. The staircase and the bridges that span the west entrance symbolize connection, which represents the atmosphere that the Gróska team hopes will form in the building. The design also takes environmental factors into consideration.

Construction in the midst of the COVID crisis

Hrólfur Jónsson also works for Vísindagarðar, which owns the property where Gróska is located. The organization’s role in the building is to establish a center for innovation, and the goal is to open it at the beginning of November. “We hope to have about 160 entrepreneurs working there, along with 40 people from various institutions, including the University of Iceland and Icelandic Startups,” says Hrólfur. Other groups that will occupy spaces at Gróska include the Iceland Tourism Cluster and Technology Transfer Office Iceland. 

It’s been said that innovation blossoms in times of crisis. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, construction on Gróska has progressed, though not without some hurdles. Hrólfur says there were challenges related to the import of both materials and workers: “For example, foreign workers came in to set up the handrails, and it was a challenge to figure out how to handle quarantine and everything.”

Entrepreneurs and Innovators

Without question, the largest space in the building belongs to the gaming company CCP, which occupies the entire third floor. The company moved from their old location at Grandi to Vatnsmýri this summer. Originally, the plan was to move in February. Hrólfur says employees worked from home during the peak of the pandemic, and although some have returned to the office, no visitors are allowed. The University of Iceland and Gróska are currently discussing the possibility of the school’s computer science department having a space on the third floor in a sort of collaboration with CCP. This is a good example of one of Gróska’s other purposes, to connect the university to the job market more directly than before.

Gróska will also house Iceland Design and Architecture (IDA), which is dedicated to promoting sustainable development built on design and architecture. Among other things, IDA works to strengthen design-driven innovation. DesignMarch is probably IDA’s most well-known project. “We’re very excited to move, and we’re sure that this move will mark the beginning of a new and very exciting chapter for us,” says Halla Helgadóttir, IDA’s managing director. They plan to move at the end of October, once their office is ready. Halla says the reason behind the move is that Gróska is an exciting place, where IDA will be part of a lively community of entrepreneurs and innovators. “Design is a tool for change and innovation, and it’s very interesting for us to be in the whirlpool that Gróska will be, where we can collaborate with and form connections between creative industries and diverse groups from the labor market and the university community,” says Halla.

Software company Planitor, owned by Jökull Sólberg and Guðmundur K. Jónsson, will also operate in Gróska. Planitor develops software for the urban planning and civil engineering sector. Jökull says they chose Gróska because it’s a great space and the rent is affordable, and it doesn’t hurt that there’s a World Class in the same building. He expects there will be a great atmosphere in the building, which is a major plus.

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Visit groska.is to learn more about the building or to inquire about available rental spaces.